Excellent
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I have somehow managed to avoid reading A Tale of Two Cities until very recently. I have always been a big fan of Dickens' Christmas stories, but had avoided anything much longer, having picked up the opinion somewhere that all the novels suffered from the lack of a good editor. I had imagined dozens of pages of bleak boredom in between each set-piece, and the feeling of being short-changed for my effort at the end. For all I know this may describe the general Dickens experience, but there were, I had heard, a few exceptions to the general rules of excessive description and pointless verbosity. And I have undoubtedly found one of them in A Tale of Two Cities.
It's the story of an ex-Bastille prisoner and his daughter, who, thanks to their connection with a young French emigrant in flight from his past, are drawn back to France and sucked into the Reign of Terror in the wake of the French Revolution. It's fair to say that Dickens takes a while to get things moving, and that it's some time before the plot gains any real momentum, but there certainly isn't anything you could describe as boring along the way. Apart from the lively characters, vivid descriptions of Paris and London, and frequent, understated humour, there is the historical interest to be had in the account of the French Revolution. We see the storm slowly building among the poverty-stricken citizens of the city and the provincial villages, and bursting with the attack on the Bastille and the many smaller (but no less violent) uprisings all over the country. Dickens' commentary on the revolution is largely taken up with criticism of everyone involved. In condemning both the selfish oligarchs who brought the revolution on themselves, and the bloodthirsty `patriots' who executed it, he confounds any simple expectation that a vehement critic of oppressive regimes should automatically be a fan of revolutionary justice. In language appropriate to the excesses of each camp, he shows us that the institutional cruelty, and the violent reaction against it, were equally gruesome distortions of human nature, with the Republic having no better claims to Liberty, Equality and Fraternity than the murderous system it overthrew.
Instead of supporting either of these alternatives, he shows us a brighter vision of humanity in the virtues of the central family and its close friends, in their love, loyalty, industry and charity - and ultimately in the sacrifice which is the final and highest expression of love, and which the Republic couldn't possibly understand or accommodate. The contrast between the solid goodness of ordinary human loves and aspirations, and the atmosphere of hatred and suspicion pervading the new ideology, is perfect.
The book is worth reading for the incredible blend of pathos and optimism in the final few pages alone. Overall, it is intelligent, funny, exciting and inspiring, and as such has encouraged me to brave another Dickens novel at my earliest opportunity.
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The most unforgettable opening and closing sentences ever found in a book!
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I will never, the rest of my life forget these two sentences. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...." and at closing "It is a far, far, better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."
Wow, this is not your usual Dickens. No quirky characters with strange names and laugh out loud moments, just a darn good story -- the story of two cities, London and Paris. It is difficult to put the plot into words, but when the book begins you are in London at the time of the American revolution and spies (or suspected spies) abound, and the story eventually switches to France prior to and during the French revolution.
Dickens does a marvelous job (as always) of building his story one step at a time and slowly peeling back the layers one at a time. This is not a put down and pick it up a week later kind of a book, it is very intense and complicated and you have to pay close attention. I was just floored at how he sucked me in with his descriptions of the mobs, terror and the madness of the revolution leading you to a nail biting finish. I admit to holding my breath during those last few pages!
Highly recommended, and well worth the time to discover (or rediscover) an old classic.
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Brilliant but a warning
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I received this book as a Sunday School Prize when I was Eleven years old. Unfortunately I was too young and attempting to read it put me off Dickens for Twenty Years. I did not get passed thirty odd pages. I found the long descriptions of Paris at the begining very difficult, as was the complete lack of Humour. When I returned to the book twenty years later I really enjoyed it. But by this time I had become a Dickens Fan having marvelled at David Copperfied, Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. It is a wonderful book but perhaps not the ideal Dickens for a youngster to start on.
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Turbulent times in London and Paris
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The period from 1775 - the outbreak of the American Revolution - to 1789 - the storming of the Bastille - is the turbulent setting of this uncharacteristic Dickens novel. It is his only novel that lacks comic relief, is one of only two that are not set in nineteenth-century England and is also unusual in lacking a primary central character. London and Paris are the real protagonists in this tale, much as the cathedral was the 'hero' of Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris. Dickens was writing at a time of great turmoil in his personal life, having just separated from his wife, and no doubt the revolutionary theme was in tune with his mental state. The result is a complex, involving plot with some of the best narrative writing to be found anywhere, and the recreation of revolutionary Paris is very convincing. The device of having two characters that look identical may seem hackneyed to modern readers, but it is here employed with greater plausibility than in Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson or Collins's The Woman in White. Dickens was inspired to write this story by reading Carlyle's newly published history of the French Revolution. Those events and their aftermath stood in relation to their time much as World Wars I and II do to ours, that is, fading from living memory into history, yet their legacy still very much with us. In many nineteenth-century novels, especially Russian and British works, you get a sense of unease among the aristocracy that the revolution will spread to their own back yard. In the case of Russia, of course, it eventually did. I have often recommended A Tale of Two Cities as a good introduction to Dickens for younger readers. This is based on my own experiences, because it was a set book in my English Literature class when I was 15 and I remember thoroughly enjoying it. Yes, it is challenging, with its somewhat archaic language and its slow development, but you cannot progress to an enjoyment of great literature without being challenged.
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Breathtaking
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Great plot, intricately and skillfully knit. We meet quite a lot of characters but in the end they all come together and contribute to the story. I couldn't help finding A Tale Of Two Cities a bit different from Dickens's other novels. It feels a bit more bitter and also more poetic.The beginning line is enough to make you cringe. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Overall a must read for anyone, even for those who find Dickens' novels cumbersome.
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